The invention relates to a blending device for textile fibers.
Blending devices for textile fibers are needed in spinning mills to improve the quality of the yarn (strength, uniformity and dyeing behavior). In the non-wovens industry blending devices improve the quality of the non-woven fabric (strength, uniformity and the area distribution of the fibers), whether the textile products concerned are made of natural or synthetic fibers. Growth-related differences in natural fibers and production-related differences in synthetic fibers that not only occur from bale to bale, but also within one bale, have to be compensated prior to the forming of slubbings for the making of yarn. A homogenous blending of the fibers is necessary in order to reach maximum spin-out limits and to keep the fiber breakage time at an extremely low level. This is because of differences in fineness, fiber lengths, degree of maturity and color.
In a blending device known as a "laydown cross blender" manufactured by the Hergeth Hollingsworth Co. GmbH, blending is effected by means of a reducing member in connection with a feeding machine which reciprocates over a rectangular area in the working direction over the working width. The fiber material is first stored in a sandwich-like manner in the filling chamber of such a blending device by the feeding machine and subsequently reduced by the reducing device. The reduced fiber flocks are combed out of the reducing device by a stripping roller and supplied to a funnel-shaped chute where the fiber flocks, due to gravity, fall into a horizontally extending suction channel in which they are further transported by means of an air flow.
An object of the invention to provide a blending device in which, after the blending of the fiber flocks, a cleaning of the fiber material is possible prior to the transport thereof.